The Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programme

The Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programme@Queen Square is for adults who have aphasia caused by an acquired brain injury, usually stroke, brain tumours or head injury.

Aphasia is a disorder of language that often affects both the way language gets into the brain (listening and reading) and how it gets out (talking and writing). We know that people with aphasia can make large gains in their language abilities, but this takes time and hard work. The most efficient way to do this is to have guided practice with trained experts (therapists). Our ICAP offers high intensity speech therapy, four days a week for four weeks. People with aphasia attend as a day case, either travelling in each day from home or staying at a nearby hotel.

We work holistically (look at the whole person) and systemically (look at how they interact with the people most important to them). We have input from a psychologist to help with these aspects and also to support carers.

The service takes place on NHS premises at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and has been funded for two years by generous donations from the National Brain Appeal and The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia. The service is led by Professor Alex Leff and Professor Jennifer Crinion who work at UCL. 

We have produced two peer-reviewed papers on the clinical aspects of the ICAP:

1. A paper on the clinical effectiveness of the service in the journal Stroke.
2. A paper on what do people with aphasia want from the Queen Square Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programme and do they achieve it? In the journal Aphasiology.

Referrals into the service are via Professor Jennifer Crinion’s NHS clinic at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.